Tree Falling
by BeyondTheClouds777
Summary: An evening flight with Stormfly goes wrong. What will happen?
1. Chapter 1

**This is an idea I got one day just randomly. I'm not so sure where it came from. This takes place somewhere during the TV series, just so everyone knows. It's just a short, sweet, three-chapter fanfic with Hiccup and Astrid. For some reason, I really like it. :) Enjoy! **

"Hey, Astrid!"

Astrid turned around to find the source of the voice, and smiled. Hiccup was running through the almost foot deep snow, holding a rolled up piece of paper in one hand, a charcoal pencil in the other. Astrid turned to him from where she was strapping Stormfly's saddle on her back. Normally on days like this, when Toothless was hibernating, Hiccup would always come up with these brilliant schemes.

Truth be told, Astrid loved every single one of them.

"Hey, Hiccup," said Astrid. Hiccup stopped a few inches in front of her, gasping while regaining his breath. "Whatcha up to?"

"Nothing much," said Hiccup. "With Toothless hibernating and all, it's been pretty boring. So, I've let my mind wander..."

"Oh no," said Astrid. "Did you find it yet?"

"Hardy har har," Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Seriously, though, I've been working on some new stuff."

"Like what?" said Astrid.

"Just some ideas," said Hiccup. "None of them are complete yet. I was thinking you could help me with one or two."

"Well, sure," said Astrid. "What are you wondering?"

"Well..." said Hiccup, "I was really wondering if I could borrow Stormfly."

"Borrow Stormfly?" Astrid frowned.

"Hey, I'd let you borrow Toothless if Stormfly was hibernating!" said Hiccup.

"I don't get why she hasn't started hibernation yet," said Astrid. "Well, I guess quite a few dragons haven't. Thornado hasn't, Hookfang hasn't, Meatlung hasn't-"

"Is that a yes?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah, if you let me come with you," said Astrid. "I wanna see what it is you're working on."

"Fine by me, milady," said Hiccup. "And really, it isn't anything too extreme. Just a map."

"A map?" said Astrid. "What would you need a map for, Hiccup?"

"I'm just thinking," said Hiccup. "Toothless and I fly everywhere, really. Sometimes I'm afraid we'll fall off the edge of the world. So, I was thinking, we could map all of our destinations, pick out some names for different islands, and such. It'll be fun."

"I'm sure it will be," said Astrid. "I have no doubt. So, when should we leave?"

"How about right now?" said Hiccup.

It was around Snoggletog, rendering Berk covered to the brim in ice and snow. It was falling still in a rapid session, although it was nothing the Berkians weren't used to. It was their third Snoggletog with the dragons, and for some reason, this year, a lot of them seemed to be hibernating.

Astrid mounted Stormfly, and then Hiccup mounted behind her. Then, Stormfly took off.

"So what are we doing?" said Astrid. "First destination. Shoot."

"East," said Hiccup. "Towards Breakneck Bog."

"Breakneck Bog?" said Astrid. "Why would you want to go to Breakneck Bog?"

"Put it on the map, of course," said Hiccup. "I say we should start mapping the world. It would be pretty sweet, huh?"

"Hiccup..." said Astrid. Then, she laughed.

"What?" said Hiccup.

"Nothing," said Astrid. "Just all of your crazy ideas."

"My ideas aren't crazy," said Hiccup.

"Yes they are!" said Astrid.

"No, they're not!" said Hiccup.

"Yes, they are!"

"No, they're not!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No...hold it."

"Ye...hold what?"

Hiccup looked below them and pointed. "What's that?"

"I can't see it in this light," said Astrid. Really, it was nearing night fall. Maybe they hadn't picked the best time to go exploring, but they were vikings. Danger was an occupational hazard.

"Should we check it out?" said Hiccup. It looked like a ship, blackened by night. Of course, it really could have been anything at that point, but it looked specifically like a ship. "I mean...what if it's an Outcast boat?"

"Yeah, I guess we should check it out," said Astrid. She turned Stormfly, telling the dragon to head down. Stormfly did so, swooping right over Breakneck Bog to look at the object.

"Stormfly, fire," said Astrid. Stormfly did as she was told, firing straight over the "ship." When her light passed it, it turned out that it wasn't a ship at all. It was a rock, sticking slightly out of the sea. Hiccup and Astrid breathed a breath of relief. No worrying about the Outcasts, at least. That was good.

"Okay, let's head back to Berk," said Hiccup. "We can do this in the morning."

"But what if the Outcasts saw us and went to Breakneck Bog?" said AStrid. "It's a possibility. I mean, there is that chance that there were no Outcasts, of course, but what if there were?"

"I don't know," said Hiccup. "I really think we should head back to Berk."

"Come on," said Astrid. "It'll be fun."

Hiccup grumbled. "Something bad could happen," he said. "I don't really want to take chances."

"Whose dragon are you on?" said Astrid.

"Yours," said Hiccup.

"Yup," said Astrid. "And I want to get a look around Breakneck Bog. Nothing will go wrong. Don't worry about it, okay? You're always so worried about everything. Stop being a wet blanket."

"I'm not being a wet blanket," said Hiccup. "I'm being safe."

"Wet blanket..." said Astrid.

"Safe," said Hiccup.

"Say what you might," said Astrid. "Are you afraid?"

"What? No, I'm not _afraid_," said Hiccup.

"Then let's check it out!" said Astrid.

"I don't feel good about it, Astrid," said Hiccup. "Really, I don't. Can you please just take my word for it?"

"What's gonna happen?" said Astrid. "Really, what's?"

"Bad things," said Hiccup.

"Wet blanket..." said Astrid.

"FINE, FINE, WHATEVER!" said Hiccup. "If a Smokebreath tries to bite my leg off, save me."

"Deal," said Astrid.

Something told Hiccup that it was about to go wrong. _Very _wong.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so this chapter may seem a _teeensy little bit _unsettling, but there was no other way for me to do it. It's nothing graphic, just a tad bit...you'll see what I mean. Maybe I'm overreacting. Actually, now that I think about it, I probably am. :) This is a three-shot, and I should be finishing it today. Shout-outs: **

**silverwolvesarecool: Thanks for the awesome review! :D Glad you seem to like it so far!**

Astrid and Hiccup rode Stormfly around Breakneck Bog, surveying the area.

Stormfly landed on the island, and the riders dismounted, looking down and around the area, expecting something to shoot out at any given moment.

"Nope, no Outcasts here," said Hiccup. "Good thing, too. I really don't like it when the Outcasts attack."

"You could say that again," said Astrid. "Well, you could, but don't. No need to make it any more annoying."

Then, just as she and Hiccup turned to mount Stormfly once more, something jumped out of the shadows, pouncing on Astrid, growling and snarling. Astrid yelped as she was slammed to the ground by the whatever-it-was.

She heard Hiccup shout something inaudible, and then felt the weight leave her back. She sat up, seeing that Hiccup had kicked it. Looking at the creature through the dark night, she saw it was a single Smokebreath dragon.

One that didn't look too intent on being a good neighbor.

"BACK!" Hiccup shouted. He had drawn his dagger, and now held it out in front of him. He knew he couldn't train a Smokebreath; not after kicking it, anyways. Now, it was fired up for war. "Get back! Don't make me use this!"

Hiccup and Astrid both knew he would never hurt a dragon with his dagger, but it still made the dragon think. It was two armed Berkians against one dragon. But, that didn't mean it wasn't going to try.

It went for Hiccup's leg, knowing to take down its victims at their use of escape firsthand. Probably for the first time in his life, Hiccup was insanely relieved he had a prosthetic. Because that was the leg the Smokebreath had grabbed.

Hiccup kicked it back with his good leg, and the Smokebreath went flying, smacking into a half-dead tree. The tree cracked slightly, and then stilled once more.

Astrid attacked, whacking the Smokebreath with her axe like a golfball. The Smokebreath tumbled backwards, towards the edge of a cliff. It growled and attacked, just to be whacked back by Astrid's axe once more. This time, the force caused the dragon to slip and fall off the cliff. Once it started falling, it spread its wings, and came back for more.

"Wait, Astrid!" Hiccup shouted when Astrid tried to whack it again. "Maybe we don't have to kill it!"

Smokebreath attacked Stormfly that time. The Nadder swung back and shot spines at the dragon, making it bounce away from her. Astrid whacked it again, and Hiccup kicked it, although his conscience was screaming at him not to. But if he didn't do it, the Smokebreath would either hurt him, or Astrid. And he really didn't want to risk either of those things.

At the very last second, Stormfly butted in. She fired a blast straight at the Smokebreath, shooting it back, off the cliff. This time, the Smokebreath didn't fly up again. Astrid ran to the edge of the cliff and watched it fall down, and then hit the ocean. She felt bad for killing it, but she hadn't had the choice.

Suddenly, she heard a distinct sound of cracking wood, starting out soft, and then rising in volume and intensity. It was getting faster, and then it stopped altogether, replaced by the sound of something falling. Something..._heavy_.

"ASTRID, LOOK OUT!" a terrorized voice screamed from beside her.

Astrid barely had time to think before something slammed into her, shoving her to the ground a good five feet away. Before she could wonder what it was, or ask the same question out loud, she heard a sickening _CRASH, _followed by a sudden silence no one could have expected.

At first instinct, Astrid whipped around in the direction of the crash. Right where she had been standing only moments before, there was now a fallen, dead tree; but it was recently dead, thick and heavy as ever. If that had crushed her, she would have probably been killed. But that hadn't happened. Something...no...some_one _had pushed her out of the way; saved her life.

At her second look around, she realized who that someone was.

"HICCUP!" she screamed.

And so it _was_ him, the tree laying on top of him, one of his arms twisted underneath him. His other arm laid limp next to his head, which were the only two things that weren't underneath the tree. Quick as lightning, Astrid ran over, trying to lift the tree with all the strength she still had left in her (which wasn't very much).

"STORMFLY!" she shouted, her voice strained. "Come help me!"

Her Nadder raced over as quick as possible and bit the tree, holding it like a dog would a stick it was returning to its owner. Then, Stormfly lifted it swiftly off the ground. Astrid grabbed Hiccup's arm and yanked him out from under it just as Stormfly dropped it again. There was no blood, but maybe that was a bad sign. It meant that the tree had just crushed...

There was no positive way to finish that thought.

She flipped him over and pulled him into her arms, checking for head injuries. It was obvious he had them; she just wanted to make sure there was nothing that had to be bandaged right away.

There was nothing visible, which both relieved her and terrified her all the same.

"Stormfly, go get help," she ordered. "Go back to Berk, get Stoick. A healer. Someone. _Anyone_."

And so Stormfly turned and headed off, flying as fast as her wings could carry her. She heard the urgency in her rider's voice, and knew Astrid wouldn't have spoken like that unless the situation was grave.

Before Astrid could do or say anything else, Hiccup opened his eyes, staring up at her, almost smirking. "It hit me, didn't it?"

"Yeah," said Astrid. "Yeah, it did.

"Figures, with my luck," said Hiccup. He winced and hissed through his teeth. "Yeah, I bet it's pretty bad then, huh?"

"W-why would you think that?" said Astrid, probably too quickly.

"Because you're crying."

Astrid, without hardly thinking about it, reached up and touched her cheek, finding it wet. Funny, she didn't remember letting those tears fall. "It's just the...dust," she lied. "Y'know, from when the tree fell over."

"Okay, yeah," said Hiccup with an almost smirk. "Dust."

Astrid tried to make herself stop crying, but she couldn't. Hiccup had jumped in front of a _tree_...for _her. _The tree had _crushed him_, and he did it for _her_. He saved her life, probably at the cost of his own. If they didn't get back to Berk...

"Stormfly's getting help," said Astrid.

"Good," said Hiccup. "I guess we could use some."

"You think?"

"Yeah, I think so." He rubbed one of his temples with his right arm; probably the only bone in his body that wasn't broken.

"Go on and rest," said Astrid. "Help will come soon, and then we'll get back to Berk. When you wake up, you'll be home. Okay?"

"Looking forward to it, milady," said Hiccup.

"And you know something," said Astrid, "you don't always have to be the hero."

"Yeah, I guess not," said Hiccup. "Especially since I always end up getting hurt in the end." He smiled. "Well, better me than someone else, actually. I'm just a talking fishbone."

"Uh-huh," said Astrid. "Wait..._what?_"

Hiccup grinned. "Thanks, for everything."

Astrid smiled, still crying. "No, thank you," she said. "Really. Thank you."

Hiccup grinned, and then closed his eyes again, falling into a light sleep. Astrid held him, and decided that she would continue to do so until help arrived. She hoped his injuries weren't as bad as they seemed, and that help would arrive sooner than later.

Why had she pushed Hiccup into going there? If she had just taken his word for it, none of this would have happened, and they would have been back on Berk, talking over new plans for the map. But Astrid had been ignorant, and now Hiccup was the one suffering for it.

She felt horrible about herself.

About half an hour later, she heard a voice.

"Astrid!" she heard a shout come from above. She looked up to see Stoick head in on Thornado, followed by Stormfly. He landed his dragon and dismounted, running over to them.

"What happened?" he said.

"We were fighting off this Smokebreath, and then a tree fell on Hiccup," said Astrid. She pointed with her free hand to the fallen plant behind her and then turned back to Stoick. "He was conscious about half an hour ago." She figured he should know.

Stoick took Hiccup from her gently and then walked back over to Thornado. Mounting his dragon, he took to the sky. Astrid mounted her own Nadder and flew back, following the chief towards Berk, hoping all the way Hiccup would be alright.


	3. Chapter 3

**This is my THIRD update on this story today. QUESTION: On New Years, I will start posting a new story, but I'm not so sure which one to start with. Here are your options: **

**Blind Sight: In which an accident leads to trouble for the Berk dragon riders...specifically, one in particular. The certain rider of a Night Fury, who trains dragons without a second thought. **

**How Not To Meet Your Ally: A continuing story of "How Not To Ride Your Dragon." **

**Wayward Strangers: A Modern HTTYD fanfiction. **

**Which one? We're voting! Leave your votes in a review, please. Enjoy this final chapter! :D**

According to Gothi, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Astrid sat on a stool in front of Hiccup's bed, watching him sleep. From what Gothi could tell, when the tree fell on him, it rendered some of his ribs broken, his right leg also broken, his left arm broken, his left leg above the prosthetic sprained, his left wrist broken, and a slight concussion. Really, it could have been a lot worse.

And so she stayed with him, her excuse being that "he shouldn't be left alone, because knowing Hiccup, he'll do something crazy." Problem was, no one disagreed. Being Hiccup, he'll find a way.

Toothless laid curled up on his slab a little bit away from them, still deep in hibernation. Astrid didn't know where Stormfly had run off to, but maybe it was just as well. At that point, she was glad she hadn't been disturbed.

Yet.

She heard a voice, gently whisper her name. When she looked down at Hiccup, she saw his eyes were open, and he was staring right at her, confusion and relief both on his face at once.

"Hey there," he said.

"Hey there, too," Astrid replied. "So, I kept true to my promise."

"Yes you did," said Hiccup. "Although I would like to know exactly why I am pretty much covered in bandages."

"Well," said Astrid, "you broke some of your ribs, broke your right leg, broke your left arm, sprained your left leg above the prosthetic, broke your left wrist, and also had a slight concussion."

"Really?" Hiccup frowned. "I honestly thought it would be worse than that."

"Is that so?" Now it was Astrid's turn to frown. "What did you have in mind?"

"I didn't have in mind anything, per say," said Hiccup.

"Well, I'm glad it's not worse," said Astrid. "But really, no more being the hero, okay? You really scared me. Next time, ask me before you go off saving my life."

"Hey, I'm just glad we're both _alive_," said Hiccup. "That tree felt as heavy as seven or eight Gronckles. And plus, with the angle it was coming at you in, it would have crushed your _entire _body. It only got half of mine!"

"Three quarters," Astrid corrected.

"Fine, three quarters," said Hiccup.

"And I just wanted to tell you, that what you did was pretty brave," said Astrid, hesitating slightly. "I mean...it's not just everyone who will just jump in front of a tree to save their friend. It really takes a special kind of person."

"Thanks," said Hiccup. "So, how long was I out?"

"About a day, which is lucky, considering all you went through," said Astrid. "And look, Hiccup...I just wanted to say...thank you, for what you did. Really, thank you."

"Don't worry about it," said Hiccup.

"But I _do _worry about it," said Astrid. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you when you said we shouldn't go to Breakneck Bog. I'm sorry I didn't move out of the way before you had to rush in and save my life. I'm sorry I can't help you as much as you help me. I'm sorry I can never return the favor. I'm sorry-"

"Astrid, stop apologizing," said Hiccup. "You're giving me a headache."

"Oh, right. Sorry," said Astrid. Hiccup gave her an _are-you-serious? _look, and she instantly took it back. "Oh, sorry, I forgot. Sorry about..._gah_."

Hiccup smiled. "Yeah, I understand," he said. "Don't worry about it, please. When you worry, I worry, and...you know how _that _ends up."

"Okay, one more thing," said Astrid. "I'm sorry I called you a wet blanket."

"I forgive you, Astrid, but please stop apologizing," said Hiccup. "Quick question."

"Yep?"

"Did Stormfly ever go into hibernation, or...?"

"Ooooh, no, I know what you're thinking," said Astrid.

"What?" said Hiccup.

"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking!" said Astrid.

"But all I said was-" Hiccup started.

"Nu-uh," said Astrid. "We are _not _going back out there until you've completely healed."

"You really think I had planned to go out right now, Astrid?" said Hiccup. "Really, how would I get around with all..." He tried to find an appropriate word, "..._this_," he settled on, gesturing to himself.

"Knowing you, you'll find a way," said Astrid.

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Hiccup. "You usually are."

"Except the other night," said Astrid. "I shouldn't have forced you to go. I shouldn't have. A good friend wouldn't have done that."

"A good friend admits their mistake, too," said Hiccup, "which is exactly what you've been doing. For the past...five minutes, actually."

"Sorry," said Astrid.

"Astrid, stop apologizing," said Hiccup.

"Sor-"

"Don't say it, I get it," said Hiccup. "And I'm sorry, too, for my part."

"What part?" said Astrid.

"No idea," said Hiccup. "You're making me feel guilty with all your apologizing."

"Sor...never mind," said Astrid.

"Yeeeah," said Hiccup. "Let's just call it even."

She stayed with him the rest of the day, keeping him company. She went to her house for the night, and then returned to Hiccup's place early the next morning. She did so every day for almost a month, making sure he was safe and well-taken care of.

Because that's exactly what he had done for her.

_**THE END**_


End file.
